1864 : Atlanta falls to Union forces
On this day in 1864, Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman lays
siege to Atlanta, Georgia, a critical Confederate hub, shelling
civilians and cutting off supply lines. The Confederates retreated,
destroying the city's munitions as they went. On November 15 of that
year, Sherman's troops burned much of the city before continuing their
march through the South. Sherman's Atlanta campaign was one of the
most decisive victories of the Civil War.
William Sherman, born May 8, 1820, in Lancaster, Ohio, attended West
Point and served in the army before becoming a banker and then
president of a military school in Louisiana. When the Civil War broke
out in 1861 after 11 Southern slave states seceded from the Union,
Sherman joined the Union Army and eventually commanded large numbers
of troops, under General Ulysses S. Grant, at the battles of Shiloh
(1862), Vicksburg (1863) and Chattanooga (1863). In the spring of
1864, Sherman became supreme commander of the armies in the West and
was ordered by Grant to take the city of Atlanta, then a key military
supply center and railroad hub for the Confederates.
Sherman's Atlanta campaign began on May 4, 1864, and in the first few
months his troops engaged in several fierce battles with Confederate
soldiers on the outskirts of the city, including the Battle of
Kennesaw Mountain, which the Union forces lost. However, on September
1, Sherman's men successfully captured Atlanta and continued to defend
it through mid-November against Confederate forces led by John Hood.
Before he set off on his famous March to the Sea on November 15,
Sherman ordered that Atlanta's military resources, including munitions
factories, clothing mills and railway yards, be burned. The fire got
out of control and left Atlanta in ruins.
Sherman and 60,000 of his soldiers then headed toward Savannah,
Georgia, destroying everything in their path that could help the
Confederates. They captured Savannah and completed their March to the
Sea on December 23, 1864. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, when
the Confederate commander in chief, Robert E. Lee, surrendered to
Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
After the war, Sherman succeeded Grant as commander in chief of the
U.S. Army, serving from 1869 to 1883. Sherman, who is credited with
the phrase "war is hell," died February 14, 1891, in New York City.
The city of Atlanta swiftly recovered from the war and became the
capital of Georgia in 1868, first on a temporary basis and then
permanently by popular vote in 1877.
history.com/tdih.do
1807 : Aaron Burr acquitted
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5307
1939 : Germans invade Poland
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7007
1969 : Qaddafi leads coup in Libya
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5308
1985 : Wreck of the Titanic found
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5309
2004 : Chechen separatists storm Russian school
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5310
##########################################
On this day in 1864, Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman lays
siege to Atlanta, Georgia, a critical Confederate hub, shelling
civilians and cutting off supply lines. The Confederates retreated,
destroying the city's munitions as they went. On November 15 of that
year, Sherman's troops burned much of the city before continuing their
march through the South. Sherman's Atlanta campaign was one of the
most decisive victories of the Civil War.
William Sherman, born May 8, 1820, in Lancaster, Ohio, attended West
Point and served in the army before becoming a banker and then
president of a military school in Louisiana. When the Civil War broke
out in 1861 after 11 Southern slave states seceded from the Union,
Sherman joined the Union Army and eventually commanded large numbers
of troops, under General Ulysses S. Grant, at the battles of Shiloh
(1862), Vicksburg (1863) and Chattanooga (1863). In the spring of
1864, Sherman became supreme commander of the armies in the West and
was ordered by Grant to take the city of Atlanta, then a key military
supply center and railroad hub for the Confederates.
Sherman's Atlanta campaign began on May 4, 1864, and in the first few
months his troops engaged in several fierce battles with Confederate
soldiers on the outskirts of the city, including the Battle of
Kennesaw Mountain, which the Union forces lost. However, on September
1, Sherman's men successfully captured Atlanta and continued to defend
it through mid-November against Confederate forces led by John Hood.
Before he set off on his famous March to the Sea on November 15,
Sherman ordered that Atlanta's military resources, including munitions
factories, clothing mills and railway yards, be burned. The fire got
out of control and left Atlanta in ruins.
Sherman and 60,000 of his soldiers then headed toward Savannah,
Georgia, destroying everything in their path that could help the
Confederates. They captured Savannah and completed their March to the
Sea on December 23, 1864. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, when
the Confederate commander in chief, Robert E. Lee, surrendered to
Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
After the war, Sherman succeeded Grant as commander in chief of the
U.S. Army, serving from 1869 to 1883. Sherman, who is credited with
the phrase "war is hell," died February 14, 1891, in New York City.
The city of Atlanta swiftly recovered from the war and became the
capital of Georgia in 1868, first on a temporary basis and then
permanently by popular vote in 1877.
history.com/tdih.do
1807 : Aaron Burr acquitted
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5307
1939 : Germans invade Poland
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7007
1969 : Qaddafi leads coup in Libya
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5308
1985 : Wreck of the Titanic found
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5309
2004 : Chechen separatists storm Russian school
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5310
##########################################
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